Blackberries and Blood
by Lost Iris Eyez
Summary: Carly Benson is the girlfriend of Carlos Lopez, one of the biggest mob bosses on the east coast. After living with him New York City, they are moving to Port Charles. What will this small town hold for her? She has no idea just how much...
1. Prologue

_**Blackberries & Blood**_

_**Prologue**_

The sheets on the bed itched. That was the first thing she noticed when she woke up, after the pounding in her head stopped. She knew she'd had too much to drink the night before and that her head would ache for the next few hours. She twisted her head around to see the man lying next to her. She sighed quietly, knowing he'd had even more to drink than she had, and there'd be no chance she'd wake him up as she made her quick escape. He had no way of knowing her real name, and it didn't really matter. That was the way she operated. Carly Benson planned on leaving that very day, and she couldn't afford to be late.

She'd been a New York City girl since straight out of high school. She didn't feel guilty for sleeping with this man, when she was almost positive that her own boyfriend had never returned home the night before. Life wasn't easy being the girlfriend of a—well, we're not quite up to that part yet. She'd been born and raised by her adoptive parents in Florida, and ran away after she graduated high school with her boyfriend, Carlos. She said she loved him and kissed him on the cheek before he went to work every morning, but after five years she was with him more because it was the only life she had ever known.

She'd always been rather naïve. Carlos had an uncle here who had paid for them to live up here, but he only owned a simple car dealership in Queens. Yet, she and Carlos lived the lifestyle of a wealthy couple. They owned an apartment on the upper west side of Manhattan, with all the newest technology and appliances, and a state of the art security system. Carlos worked with his uncle in Queens, but he didn't ever come home till the late hours of the night. Every time he brought her home a new piece of jewelry, she'd ask him how he could ever afford it and he would just smile.

One night three years ago, it all became very real to her. Carlos had called her and asked her to bring by some paperwork in the early evening, around six o'clock. She drove her brand new Porsche to the dealership in Long Island City, but she was about a half hour early. It was a Sunday night, and she'd hit no traffic. When she arrived, she went back to the offices. Carlos's door was cracked open, and she double checked herself in the mirror. As she pushed a stray strand of her away from her face she heard someone moan quietly from inside her boyfriend's office. Her mind flashed to the worst images possible, or at least what she thought were the worst images possible. She imagined Carlos rolling around with some cheap whore on his desk, with her moaning beneath all his weight. When she peered into through the crack in the door, she saw something much worse. Her boyfriend was standing over a man with a busted lip and a black eye. She gasped, loud enough for Carlos to hear her. She dropped the papers and ran as fast as her legs would take her.

They had talked about it that night, and he brushed it all off but she knew the truth about her boyfriend's job from that night on. When his uncle died, the money only seemed to pour in faster. Carlos Lopez was one of the biggest mob bosses on the east coast, and she was his girlfriend. He went about his business but never once discussed it with his Carly. He had other girlfriends and Carly had caught him with them several times, but she never left him. They had been together for too long, and they would probably be married soon. Their relationship wasn't one of love as it had been when they were in high school, but of convenience.

And now, she would travel with him to their new life in upstate New York, away from all the city lights and stores she had grown so accustomed to so her boyfriend could try and steal someone else's territory and expand his own empire. In spite of the fact that she was dreading the move to this small town, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that her life was about to change forever.


	2. Chapter One

_**Author's Note: I forgot to include this in the prologue, so I'm including it now. I did not create, nor do I own, any of the characters, settings, or plots of General Hospital. This is an alternate reality, and the characters seen before on ABC and created by the writers and producers are solely theirs. Everything else is mine!**_

_**Blackberries and Blood**_

_**Chapter One**_

The limousine was speeding along the Palisades Parkway at two in the morning. Carly yawned and turned to look at her boyfriend, Carlos Lopez. He was staring out the window, looking distracted as usual. She knew this move was worrying him, but she couldn't help but feel slightly hurt by the distance between them. She knew their relationship meant absolutely nothing anymore, but it hurt her that he hadn't noticed she was wearing her new dress for their late night escape—it was one he had bought her. He'd barely even given her a hello before they climbed into the car and sped off.

She sighed and tossed her purse on the seat of the car. "I still don't understand why we had to leave this early."

He shrugged. He didn't acknowledge her question with an answer, but opened the bar in the back of the car and took out one of the miniature bottles of whiskey. She rolled her eyes and went back to staring out the window, a look to imitate her boyfriend's. She saw a sign.

"Now entering Port Charles city limits."

She hated this. She saw nothing but trees and darkness outside the window. She heard nothing but the sound of the car moving against the roadway and she began to miss the neon lights of New York City immediately. It was her home and she had left it all behind now. She glanced out of the corner of her eye over at Carlos. He was still just staring out the window, taking sips from the bottle of whiskey. What had she gotten herself into? A few days before they'd left, Carlos had asked her if she was sure she was okay with the move. She'd said yes then, but now, as she felt tiny twangs of homesickness in her stomach, she missed New York City more than she could have ever imagined.

That was when it happened. They drove further and further into the city and her eyes widened. It wasn't the beauty or serenity of the small town that surprised her, but the familiarity of it all. That tiny diner across the way felt like home. People on the streets looked like ones she had seen before. Those same dark buildings were looming the distance. Was it possible to adjust to this new life this fast?

Inside those dark towers, the lights from the top floor penthouse were still lit up near three in the morning. Sonny Corinthos was pacing the floors up and down penthouse number four inside Harborview Towers, with a drink in his hand and an expressionless face. Anyone who saw him would think he just had a case of insomnia. The world had no clue Sonny was waiting for a phone call from his right hand man, and his best friend, Jason Morgan. He couldn't believe how quickly had been thrown into the middle of a mob war with some hot shot boss from New York City. He'd heard of Carlos Lopez before, and disliked him from the moment that he'd heard one single word about Carlos's business.

"Drugs," he muttered under his breath.

Carlos Lopez was one of the biggest drug carriers in New York. Three quarters of New York City's drug problem was due to the drugs that Lopez passed through his territory. He was powerful, Sonny couldn't deny that. But he didn't need this problem right now. He knew Lopez had chosen this specific time to come. It felt like only yesterday, but in reality it had been four months since the car bomb had gone off in Sonny's limousine. No, he hadn't been inside. But he watched his wife Lily and his unborn child die before his eyes. The bomb had gone off a bit too early, and Lily had been knocked off her feet and had severe burns from the explosion. Her body gave out only a few minutes after the explosion, but not before she could tell Sonny that she'd always love him. That car bomb had killed part of his soul along with his wife and child. Four months was a subtle way of Carlos Lopez moving in without making it very obvious that he was playing off of Sonny's current emotional weakness. The phone chose that moment to ring, and Sonny rushed over to answer it.

"Corinthos," he said, already knowing who it would be.

"They're here," replied the familiar voice of Jason Morgan. "Lopez just pulled up to the Metro Court with a woman, a brunette."

Sonny was puzzled. He'd never heard of Lopez having a wife. Could she be a woman in the business? No way. It didn't matter. She wouldn't be in the way of their business.

"Greet them. Tell Mr. Lopez I want a sit down with him immediately."


End file.
